


Home to you

by madbrilliant84



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Christmas, Driving, Feelings, Gift Fic, M/M, Secret Saito Gift Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 04:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13069257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madbrilliant84/pseuds/madbrilliant84
Summary: Eames has done a lot of driving in his life. He drove his Dad’s Bentley without a license at 14. He drove several cars that he nicked with his mate Rufus (and never got caught). He maneuvered a tank through the desert and a military jeep through the Hindukush. He raced through Rome’s streets on a motorbike to save his life and through the streets of Delhi to save Arthur’s. Still he couldn’t help but feel that this drive was somehow more important than any of the ones that came before.





	Home to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kate_the_reader](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate_the_reader/gifts).



> This is my gift for kate_the_reader for the Secret Saito gift exchange! I have no idea if this is even close to what she had in mind with the prompt "driving" but I dearly hope she likes it :) Merry Inception-Mas! <3
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters but made all mistakes myself :)

Eames has done a lot of driving in his life. He drove his Dad’s Bentley without a license at 14. He drove several cars that he nicked with his mate Rufus (and never got caught). He maneuvered a tank through the desert and a military jeep through the Hindukush. He raced through Rome’s streets on a motorbike to save his life and through the streets of Delhi to save Arthur’s. Still he couldn’t help but feel that this drive was somehow more important than any of the ones that had come before.

He’d been on a job in Moscow that had gone spectacularly wrong. Their chemist had sold them out and suddenly, two weeks before Christmas, Eames had found himself on the run. Thankfully an old acquaintance had found him a safe house in St. Petersburg where he was able to lay low before attempting to leave the country.

It took him a couple of days though before he could skype with Arthur. The pointman had looked furious beyond believe when he picked up but his expression changed instantly when he found out why he hadn't been able to reach Eames for five days.

“I’m so sorry darling. I think I might be late for Christmas.”

“Don’t be sorry Eames. Just come home in one piece. Come home.”

Xxx

He might as well still be in Russia what with the blizzard raging all around him. He was lucky that his plane even touched down in Chicago earlier today. Now he was making his way down to their farmhouse in a rented Prius (Shut up! It was the only car left at the rental station that wasn’t gonna veer off the road in this weather). They had picked the homely ranch-style building because it was very much out of the way. A perfect place to lay low but now Eames wished they’d chosen somewhere a little more urban. Or at least a little more tropical. What was wrong with Christmas in Hawaii? If it was good enough for Elvis then it was good enough for them, right?

But who was he kidding. Of course they picked this house because Arthur loved it. He likes to have proper seasons and a fireplace. He loves the little lake and the woods surrounding it. And although Eames wasn’t the nature-type himself (and would never have picked Arthur for one to be honest), he’d started to fall in love with the place as well.

There were a lot of things he wouldn’t have bet on two years ago. If you had asked Eames in the past where he’d be over the holidays, the answer would have been: drunk in a gambling den in Bangkok or in some bimbo’s bed in Vegas. His family had stopped expecting him a long time ago and was probably relieved they didn’t have to pretend to welcome him anymore.

Eames wondered what they’d think if they could see him like this: dashing down icy roads in the middle of the night, all because he wanted to make it back in time for Christmas. He looked like hell. His hair too long and dirty, his beard grown out and the clothes rumpled from the journey. Arthur wouldn’t mind though. Hell, he probably wouldn’t even mind Eames missing Christmas if he’d just made it back in one piece. Somehow though he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was important to make it back in time, even if just prove something to himself.

His heart leaped into his throat when the car suddenly skidded on the icy tarmac. Deep breath and foot off the gas. It would be more than a little tragic if he’d end up wrapped around some tree a couple of miles away from his destination. Focus! He just had to keep it together for a little while longer. Maybe 45 minutes, an hour tops, before he could collapse in his own bed or preferably in Arthur’s arms.

Maybe the radio could lift the fog that threatened to settle over his muddled brain. Eames switched stations until he found one that was playing some bearable seasonal fair. He hummed along to it, happy to give himself something to do besides staring at the white mess in front of his windshield.

_“It's coming on Christmas_

_They're cutting down trees_

_They're putting up reindeer_

_And singing songs of joy and peace_

_Oh I wish I had a river_

_I could skate away on_

_But it don't snow here_

_It stays pretty green_

_I'm going to make a lot of money_

_Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene_

_I wish I had a river_

_I could skate away on”_

How that song used to resonate with him. Now it just brings back memories of holidays spent alone in warmer climates. None of them bad but not really fond either. He wasn’t unhappy back then but that was just because he didn’t know anything else. Eames no longer wished for a way to escape. If he’d be looking for a river right now, it would only be to get him home even faster than this shitty car that wasn’t really made for this weather.

_“He tried hard to help me_

_You know, he put me at ease_

_And he loved me so naughty_

_Made me weak in the knees_

_Oh I wish I had a river_

_I could skate away on_

_I'm so hard to handle_

_I'm selfish and I'm sad_

_Now I've gone and lost the best baby_

_That I ever had_

_Oh I wish I had a river_

_I could skate away on”_

It’s not like he didn’t try to push Arthur away at the beginning.  He was fine with them fucking when they were on a job together or whenever they bumped into each other during his travels. Although he soon began to suspect that these encounters weren’t actually left up to chance. Eames hadn’t noticed it at first, the way they spend more and more time together. Days, weeks in almost domestic bliss wherever they were on the planet instead of his usual fuck-and-run.

It hit him seemingly out of nowhere when he came out of the bedroom one morning. There was Arthur, standing in the kitchen in nothing but his boxers, his hair loose and reading-glasses on while he was checking the paper. Eames had turned on his heel, got dressed and left the flat without a word. When returned in the early hours of the morning, reeking of booze and other people, Arthur had looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Feeling better now?”

Eames shook his head no and took a shower before climbing in between the sheets next to Arthur. He woke up with his lover wrapped around him and just like that, from this moment on, he had never felt the urge to run again.

xxx

The song changed and Eames really wanted to get off this stupid road now. Would Arthur still be up waiting for him? Probably. He knew Eames arrival time in Chicago, although he hadn’t called ahead before getting in the car. They hadn’t spoken since he’d gotten on a connecting flight in Frankfurt and Arthur had been very brief on the phone, still on edge about the whole situation, afraid of putting Eames in danger although he was already out of harm’s way by then. But that’s just how Arthur is – better safe than sorry.

Eames breathed a long sigh of relief when he finally saw the dirt-road that led to their house. He turned right and followed the path slowly through the dark trees until he made it to the other side of the woods. And there it was, covered in snow, the lake frozen solid and it all looked so idyllic that he almost reached for his totem. There was smoke coming out of the chimney and a low light was glowing in one of the bay windows. He sat there just a moment longer after he’d turned the engine off just watching the tranquil scenery.

Where he once craved constant change and excitement, this was exactly what his heart was screaming for now. His footsteps made crunching noises in the snow and Arthur was probably already aware of his presence. He turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open to be instantly bathed in warmth and golden light and the smell of burning wood. He had made it. He was home.   

**Author's Note:**

> The song is "River" by Joni Mitchell in case someone was wondering.


End file.
